The cypress tree

A troll and a friend

An old Jewish adage states, “It’s half a consolation when you know that your troubles are also other peoples’ troubles.” However, we derived small solace from the news that the heat wave that has been scorching Israel for the past ten days or more has also seared our neighbours, especially Lebanon.

The Israel Electric Corporation has been hard put to meet the increased demands for electric power during the heat wave. Its counterpart in Lebanon

Electricité du Liban, notorious for its inefficiency and bad management is able to supply demands on a very limited basis.

Beirut is best served by the company but the rest of the country suffers power cuts throughout the year. The southern suburbs of Beirut often go without electricity for days at a time.

The heat wave is the least of Lebanon’s problems these days. Last week I wrote about the Alfa espionage scandal and how it continues to shock the country.

Earlier this week another spy was arrested, this time a former general in the Lebanese security forces. Not surprisingly all of the suspects have confessed to spying for Israel. I also mentioned a report in the Financial Times regarding another crisis, “Lebanon is braced for another political crisis as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon appears to be heading towards indicting Hezbollah.
The alleged involvement of undisciplined Hezbollah members in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination is a perilous outcome for the country: the movement is now part of the coalition government led by Saad Hariri, the prime minister and son of the dead leader,"

Hussein Shabokshi wrote in the English language Asharq alawsat ( Middle East), “The decision to accuse Hezbollah, if it comes, will not be a surprise, particularly following the leaked report in the prestigious German magazine Der Spiegel which indicated that strong evidence exists that directly incriminates Hezbollah of being involved in Hariri's assassination. Lebanon is anticipating Hezbollah being accused of this, however we cannot overlook the fact that the state of tension within Hezbollah goes beyond anticipating the international tribunal's expected accusation of its involvement in the Hariri assassination. Rather, this has more to do with Hezbollah trying to identify its future role in Lebanon, and its grand political project that clashes with Lebanon's own political identity and the nature of the country's [political] composition. “

A similar sentiment is expressed emphatically by Michael Young a Lebanese scholar and commentator in his book “The Ghosts of Martyrs Square” - “There is Lebanon, and there is Hezbollah’s Lebanon, one or the other will prevail, but together they cannot co-exist in a stable way.”

Hussein Shabokshi identifies a dangerous trend in Hezbollah’s aspirations, “Regionally, there is a belief amongst certain parties that Hezbollah has outgrown Lebanon's ability to absorb it, and that there is a need to develop a framework to deal with the movement's expansion, to ensure that it does not grow beyond the state's ability to control and subdue it.
On the Arab level, there is high level political movement to curb any reckless or impulsive reaction to capitalize on the sense of tension [in Lebanon] to achieve "specific goals" that would result in the situation further deteriorating.
The concern of Hezbollah's reaction [to the expected accusation of its involvement in the Hariri assassination] cannot be separated from the greater unrest that has been caused by Iran's policies in the region. Iran's regional policies could also see Hezbollah being used as a playing card in a more comprehensive deal, with the Lebanese movement being sacrificed to ensure more direct Iranian gains. “

The Economist favourably reviewed David Hirst’s book “Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East.” Hirst a veteran foreign correspondent who has spent more than fifty years in Lebanon pins the larger part of the blame for the country’s recent sufferings squarely on what he calls “a vastly more arbitrary example of late-imperial arrogance, geopolitical caprice and perniciously misguided philanthropy”: Israel. He conveniently overlooks Syria or Lebanon’s almost perpetual internecine feuding.

Lebanon is a turbulent mixture of 18 ethno-religious groups and is ruled under a strict formula for political power-sharing among Sunni, Shiite and Christian factions. This fragile formula has brought some quiet but has also caused power struggles and political paralysis.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has vehemently rejected the accusations regarding Hezbollah’s alleged role in Hariri’s assassination and has accused the tribunal of serving US and Israeli interests.

“We believe that there is a major plot to target Hezbollah, Lebanon and the whole region,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

At this juncture it’s appropriate to add another adage, albeit in the archaic language of the

St James translation of the Bible:

“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth. “ Proverbs 24:17.

A later Jewish saying of undetermined origin with a definite Yiddish intonation advises, “Rejoice not when your enemy falls, but don’t rush to pick him up.”

Napoleon was more brutal-" Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

I wonder who made the mistake on the Lebanese border this week regarding the cypress tree incident. An editorial in Haaretz and an article written by its self-hating columnist Gideon Levy intimates that we could have avoided the incident.

The rest of the Israeli news media thought otherwise. UNIFIL the United Nations peace keeping force in Lebanon confirmed the Israeli version of the incident.The rest of the Israeli news media thought otherwise.

The border between Israel and Lebanon is clear and accurately marked. At the site where the incident took place the border fence runs inside Israeli territory for a short distance. For topographical considerations the fence was erected on higher ground. A recognised area on the other side of the fence at this particular place remains within Israel. Along the border fence a series of surveillance cameras monitor all movement on the Lebanese side of the border. In some places bushes and trees reach a height where they obscure the surveillance cameras’ line of vision. By a special arrangement with UNIFIL the IDF is permitted to prune bushes and if necessary uproot trees that obscure the cameras’ line of vision. Advance notice is given to UNIFIL of the planned pruning operation and the notice is relayed to the Lebanese army. The incident in question occurred two days ago when a cypress tree on the other side of the fence (inside Israeli territory) was being pruned. Lebanese army snipers opened fire on a small group of IDF offers positioned on higher ground 200 metres inside Israel. The officers were supervising the pruning operation when they were targeted. One Israeli officer was killed and another was severely wounded.

The IDF returned the fire and three Lebanese soldiers and a journalist were killed in the exchange of fire.

Following the Second Lebanon War (2006) the United Nations has restricted the movement of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, especially the area close to the border. The border area is patrolled by both UNIFIL and the Lebanese army.

The Lebanese army is comprised of more than 60% Shiite soldier and officers, many of them Hezbollah sympathisers and activists. It’s not clear if the incident was planned by Hezbollah and carried out by its sympathisers or if an over zealous Lebanese army officer suffering from heat stress acted on his own initiative.

Two days later the atmosphere along the northern border region was described as quiet but strained.

Have a good weekend.

Beni 5^th of August, 2010.